Spring City police raid alleged drug house; 3 arrested

Spring City police arrested three people in a raid on a suspected drug house at 212 New Street in Spring City Monday afternoon. Photo by John Strickler/21st Century Media

SPRING CITY — After resident complaints prompted a two-month investigation, borough police and other agencies raided a suspected drug house early Monday afternoon.

Three were arrested when the Spring City Police along with the Chester County Detective’s Municipal Drug Task Force and the East Coventry and East Pikeland Police served a search warrant at 212 New St.

A heroin dealing operation is believed to have been run from that residence for months, police said, and neighbors tipped them off.

“Our residents have been the No. 1 resource in coming to us and saying, ‘This is enough,’” said Spring City Police Chief Tony Kuklinski after the raid. “They came to us and we said, ‘We’re going to help you.’”

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Officers responded multiple times to calls of suspicious activity at the residence but each time, Kuklinski said, everyone dispersed before police could arrive.

Beginning two months ago, police conducted surveillance of the house and collected evidence in the case. They acquired a search warrant for the home, which is a rental property, on Monday.

After knocking on the door and receiving no answer, police broke down the door of the house around 1 p.m. and entered.

Stephanie Rosado, Bernard “Bart” Brewer and Melissa Keefer were all arrested by Spring City Police at the home. Both Brewer and Keefer will face charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Rosado will face drug paraphernalia possession charges.

Court documents show that Brewer, who was listed as a resident of the New Street house as well as living in Phoenixville, was arrested for drug-related charges in Upper Providence in 2004. He pleaded guilty to a single charge of possessing a controlled substance and was sentenced to a year of probation, according to the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas records.

Most recently, Rosado, who was listed as a resident of the Spring City home as well as West Norriton, was arrested for drug charges in Phoenixville in 2011, according to court documents. It’s unclear how those charges were ultimately resolved. She has been arrested multiple times in Chester County on drug charges dating back to 2006, records indicate.

Police took boxes of evidence from the New Street house and planned to continue searching for evidence into the evening.

Kuklinski said he was glad to take out the alleged drug house.

“It’s a quiet block,” he said of the New Street neighborhood. “It’s a good block. They just get in and spread their tentacles and bring in this filth.”

The Spring City Police thanked the borough’s residents for reporting suspicious activity in a press release announcing the arrests and urged them to continue contacting the police.